forum: Food & Drink

Mum, in need of advice please

Hi I am a Mummy of 4 and I find it difficult to find meals which suit all of the family. One thing I have discovered is that most of my children enjoy fajitas (even my toddler). The problem I have is that my 10 year old finds things far too spicey, he has aspergers and I think that makes him over-sensitive to strong tastes ( he also finds certain textures difficult).

I am torn though because my other children love this meal and I would like my son to enjoy it too. Does anybody have any ideas for creating a tasty yet mild flavour for fajitas to keep everyone happy? I would appreciate simplicity too, I am not the World's best in the kitchen.

Re: Mum, in need of advice please

LouiseAlex, welcome to the forums,

I know the problem !! my 4 children are now young adults and eat basically anything, although when they were little they were always good at eating most things ,there was often 1 or 2 of them that did not realy enjoy what I had cooked.

Fahitas was one of the things that I had a little difficulty with and we always had ....meat cooked with spices /sauce...meat cooked without spices/sauce ( and later meat cooked with a little bit of watered down sauce!!!) veg with spices/sauce..veg without sauce/sauce, things like mushrooms cooked seperatly,salad in seperate dishes, accompniments ( soured cream, guachamole etc. in seperate dishes !!Seems like a lot of work when you read it in a list!!

Dishes of foods were always put on the table and it was a self assembly supper !! great fun !

However ,this would cover things like food preferance without drawing attention to it.

I know that many of the children/adults that have ASD there are food issues, I have a theory that the problem is not just confined to texture and taste, but also, sometimes, the colour of some foods.

Re: Mum, in need of advice please

Yeah, tacos are a great idea.... just put a few different options on the table (lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, grated cheese, guacamole, onion etc. + the minced beef with taco seasoning...) and let everybody make their own tacos..

Re: Mum, in need of advice please

Re: Mum, in need of advice please

Hi,

Its quite common for kids with Aspergers to be sensitive to strong tastes - could you take a portion of the filling out for him and then add the spices in at the end for you and the other kids? Or you could save some leftover roast chicken and let him have that in his fajitas, rather than the spicy filling?

Otherwise, letting him add lots of extra guacamole (I make mine really simply by whizzing up a couple of really soft avocados with a good squeeze of lime) or sour cream (tho personally, I prefer natural yoghurt) might help to combat the spiciness?

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